Patent Grant
9240289
This is a non-provisional application claiming the benefit of International Application Number PCT/JP2011/055937 filed Mar. 14, 2011.
The present invention relates to a contact switching device, and particularly to a contact switching device suitable for a relay for power load, an electromagnetic switch or the like.
Conventionally, as a contact switching device, as described in Patent Document 1, there has been a sealed contact device including a sealed container made of an insulating material, fixed terminals provided with fixed contacts and airtightly bonded to the sealed container, a movable contactor provided with movable contacts that contact and depart from the fixed contacts, a bottomed cylindrical portion in which a movable iron core that can move so that the contacts contact and depart is contained on a bottom portion side, and a fixed iron core that is opposed to the movable iron core to restrict a position of the movable iron core is contained on an opening portion side, respectively, a first bonding member made of a metal material that is firmly attached to the fixed iron core and is airtightly bonded to the bottomed cylindrical portion, a second bonding member made of a metal material that is airtightly bonded to the sealed container and the first bonding member so that hydrogen or gas containing hydrogen as a main component is airtightly filled, by which an airtight space to contain both the contacts and both the iron cores is formed, a movable shaft joined to the movable iron core, a return spring that biases the movable iron core in a contact departing direction, a contact pressure spring that biases the movable contactor in a contact abutting direction and supplies a contact pressure, an insulating member having an insulating erect piece that insulates arc generated between the fixed contacts and movable contacts, and a bonding portion between the sealed container and the second bonding member, an arc drive portion that drives to extinguish arc, and a drive portion that drives and moves the movable iron core, wherein a contact pressure spring insulating erect piece that insulates the arc driven by the arc drive portion and elongated and the contact pressure spring is provided in the insulating member.
In the above-described contact device, as illustrated in
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-326530
However, in the foregoing contact device, scattered objects are caused by arc generated between the movable contacts 2a and the fixed contacts 3a, and adhere to an inner surface of a sealed container 1. The scattered objects flow out from a bonding portion between the sealed container 1 and the insulating member 15, which poses a problem that the fixed terminals 2 and a bonding member 12 made of metal are easily short-circuited, thereby making life duration short.
A contact switching device according to the present invention is devised in the above-described problem, and an object thereof is to provide a contact switching device in which a short circuit contingent to flow-out of scattered objects caused by arc is eliminated, so that life durability is long.
In order to solve the above-described problem, a contact switching device according to the present invention is a contact switching device in which a movable iron core provided at one end portion of a movable shaft is attracted to a fixed iron core, based on excitation and degauss of an electromagnet portion, by which the movable shaft reciprocates in a shaft center direction, and movable contacts of a movable contact piece arranged at another end portion of the movable shaft contact and depart from fixed contacts, respectively, wherein contact surfaces between the fixed contacts and the movable contacts are arranged inside a box-shaped insulating member, and an opening portion of the insulating member is closed by a lid body having at least one extending portion in a direction of an arc generated between the fixed contacts and the movable contacts.
According to the present invention, the extending portion of the lid body provided in the direction where the arc flies prevents the scattered objects from flowing outside from the box-shaped insulating member. Therefore, the fixed contacts are not short-circuited with outside of the insulating member, so that the contact switching device having long life duration can be obtained.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the lid body may have a substantially H shape in a plan view.
According to the present embodiment, the contact switching device can be obtained, in which even if the arc flies in a direction orthogonal to an array direction of the pair of fixed contacts, the short circuit due to the scattered objects caused by the arc can be prevented.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, the lid body may have a block shape that in a plan view has an appearance which looks substantially like the number 8.
According to the present embodiment, the contact switching device can be obtained, in which even if the arc flies in multiple directions, the short circuit due to the scattered objects can be prevented.
According to a different embodiment, at least one capture groove may be formed so as to cross a region located between the pair of fixed contacts in a lower surface of the lid body.
According to the present embodiment, the contact switching device can be obtained, in which a lot of scattered objects caused between the pair of fixed contacts are deposited by the capture groove, which can prevent the short circuit for a long period.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, at least one capture groove may be formed along the extending portion in the lower surface of the lid body.
According to the present embodiment, the contact switching device can be obtained, in which more scattered objects are deposited by the capture groove, thereby leading to longer life duration.
According to a new embodiment of the present invention, a tongue piece for position restriction that abuts on an upper end portion of a position restricting plate to prevent idle rotation of the movable contact piece may be projected at a lower-surface edge portion of the lid body.
According to the present embodiment, there is an effect that more scattered objects are deposited by the capture groove, so that the contact switching device having the smaller numbers of components and assembling manhours and thus higher productivity, and having no variation in operation characteristics can be obtained.
Embodiments in which a contact switching device according to the present invention is applied to a sealed electromagnetic relay will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings of
As illustrated in
The case 10 is a substantially box-shaped resin molded article, in which attachment holes 11 are provided in lower corner portions of outer side surfaces, while a bulging portion 12 to lead out a lead wire not shown is formed in a side-surface corner portion, and locking holes 13 are provided in opening edge portions in opposed side surfaces.
The cover 20 has a shape that can cover an opening portion of the case 10, and terminal holes 22, 22 are respectively provided on both sides of a partition wall 21 projected in an upper-surface center thereof. Moreover, in the cover 20, there is provided, in one side surface, a projected portion 23 that is inserted into the bulging portion 12 of the case 10 to be able to prevent so-called fluttering of the lead wire not shown. Furthermore, in the cover 20, locking claw portions 24 that can be locked in the locking holes 13 of the case 10 are provided in opening edge portions of opposed side surfaces.
As described before, the contact mechanical portion 30 is arranged inside the sealed space 43 formed by the ceramic plate 31, the metal cylindrical flange 32, the plate-like first yoke 37 and the bottomed cylindrical body 41, and is made up of a magnet holder 35, a fixed iron core 38, a movable iron core 42, a movable shaft 45 and a movable contact piece 48.
The ceramic plate 31 has a shape that can be brazed to an upper opening edge portion of the metal cylindrical flange 32 described later, and is provided with a pair of terminal holes 31a and 31a and a vent hole 31b (refer to
As shown in
The magnet holder 35 contained in the metal cylindrical flange 32 is made of a thermally-resistant insulating material having a box shape, as shown in
As shown in
According to the present invention, the metal cylindrical flange 32 is fitted on the annular step portion 37a from above, which enables both to be positioned precisely and easily.
Moreover, the lower opening edge portion of the metal cylindrical flange 32 is welded and integrated with the annular step portion 37a of the plate-like first yoke 37 from outside. Therefore, the present embodiment has an advantage that wide lateral welding margins are not required, thereby resulting in the contact switching device with a small floor area.
As to the cylindrical iron core 38, the movable shaft 45 with an annular flange portion 45a is inserted into a through-hole 38a so as to move slidably through the cylindrical insulating portion 35b of the magnet holder 35. A return spring 39 is put on the movable shaft 45, and the movable iron core 42 is fixed to a lower end portion of the movable shaft 45 by welding.
As to the bottomed cylindrical body 41 containing the movable iron core 42, an opening edge portion thereof is airtightly bonded to a lower-surface edge portion of the caulking hole 37b provided in the plate-like first yoke 37. After internal air is suctioned from the vent pipe 34, gas is charged and sealing is performed, by which the sealed space 43 is formed.
In the movable shaft 45, as shown in
As shown in
Next, operation of the sealed electromagnetic relay constituted as described above will be described.
First, as shown in
Subsequently, when the voltage is applied to the coil 51 to excite the same, as illustrated in
When the application of the voltage to the coil 51 is stopped to release the excitation, the movable iron core 42 departs from the fixed iron core 38, based on the spring forces of the contact spring 47 and the return spring 39. This allows the movable shaft 45 to slide and move downward, so that the movable contacts 48a depart from the fixed contacts 33a, and then, the annular flange portion 45a of the movable shaft 45 is engaged with the annular cradle 35c of the magnet holder 35, thereby returning to an original state (
According to the present embodiment, even when the movable shaft 45 returns to the original state, the movable iron core 42 does not abut on the bottom surface of the bottomed cylindrical body 41. Therefore, the present embodiment has an advantage that impact sound is absorbed and alleviated by the magnet holder 35, the fixed iron core 38, the electromagnet portion 50 and the like, thereby resulting in the sealed electromagnetic relay having small switching sound.
As illustrated in
As shown in
As shown in
As described before, the contact mechanical portion 130 is arranged inside the sealed space 143 formed by the metal frame body 160, the ceramic plate 131, the metal cylindrical flange 132, the plate-like first yoke 137 and the bottomed cylindrical body 141. The contact mechanical portion 130 is made up of a magnet holder 135, a fixed iron core 138, a movable iron core 142, a movable shaft 145, a movable contact piece 148, and a lid body 161.
As shown in
As shown in
In the upper-surface outer circumferential edge portion of the ceramic plate 131 and the opening edge portion of the vent hole 131b, a rectangular frame-shaped brazing material 172 including a ring portion 172a corresponding to the opening edge portion of the vent hole 131b is arranged. Furthermore, the ring portion 160a of the metal frame body 160 is overlaid on the ring portion 172a of the rectangular frame-shaped brazing material 172 to perform positioning. The vent pipe 134 is inserted into the ring portion 160a of the metal frame body 160 and the vent hole 131b of the ceramic plate 131. Furthermore, the fixed contact terminals 133 on which ring-shaped brazing materials 170, rings for terminals 133b, and ring-shaped brazing materials 171 are sequentially put are inserted into the terminal holes 131a of the ceramic plate 131. Subsequently, the foregoing brazing materials 170, 171, and 172 are heated and melted to perform the brazing.
The fixed contact terminals 133 inserted into the terminal holes 131a of the ceramic plate 131 through the rings for terminal 133b have the fixed contacts 133a adhered thereto at lower end portions.
The rings for terminal 133b are to absorb and adjust a difference in a coefficient of thermal expansion between the ceramic plate 131 and the fixed contact terminals 133.
Moreover, in the present embodiment, the vent pipe 134 inserted into the terminal hole 131a of the ceramic plate 131 is brazed through the ring portion 160a of the metal frame body 160 and the ring 172a of the rectangular frame-shaped brazing member 172. This enhances sealing properties, thereby resulting in the contact switching device having a sealed structure excellent in mechanical strength, particularly in impact resistance.
As shown in
The structure may be such that the metal frame body 160 and the metal cylindrical flange 132 are integrally molded by press working in advance, and an outer circumferential rib provided in a lower opening portion of the metal cylindrical flange portion 132 may be welded to, and integrated with an upper surface of the plate-like first yoke 137. According to the present constitution, not only the foregoing outer circumferential rib 160b of the metal frame body 160 and the outer circumferential rib 132a of the metal cylindrical flange 132 can be omitted, but welding processes of them can be omitted. Furthermore, since the metal cylindrical flange 132 and the plate-like first yoke 137 can be welded vertically, the welding process can be simplified as compared with a method of welding from outside, which brings about the contact switching device high in productivity.
As shown in
Moreover, in the plate-like first yoke 137, an inner V-shaped groove 137c is annularly provided so as to connect the positioning projections 137a, and an outer V-shaped groove 137d surrounds the inner V-shaped groove 137c. As shown in
Furthermore, in the plate-like first yoke 137, an upper end portion of the cylindrical fixed iron core 138 is brazed to the fitting hole 137b by a brazing material 174.
According to the present invention, the metal cylindrical flange 132 is assembled to the positioning projections 137a from above to abut on the same, which enables precise and easy positioning.
Moreover, when the opening edge portion on the lower side of the metal cylindrical flange 132 is integrated with the upper surface of the plate-like first yoke 137 by brazing, even if the melted brazing material flows out, the melted brazing material is retained in the inner V-shaped groove 137c and the outer V-shaped groove 137d. This prevents the melted brazing material from deeply flowing into the metal cylindrical flange 132, and from flowing outside the plate-like first yoke 137. As a result, since proficiency is not required for the brazing work, and the work is easy, which leads to an advantage of increase in productivity.
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
Forming the buffer materials 163 into the number 8-shape in a plan view is to obtain desired elasticity in an unbiased manner while assuring a wide floor area and assuring a stable supporting force.
Moreover, according to the present embodiment, not only selection of the materials but also change of the shape enables the elasticity to be adjusted, thereby making silence design easy.
Furthermore, the buffer materials 163 are not limited to the foregoing shape, but for example, a lattice shape or an O shape may be employed.
The buffer materials are not limited to the foregoing block shape, but may have a sheet shape. Moreover, the block-shaped buffer materials and the sheet-like buffer materials may be stacked, and be disposed between the bottom-surface back side of the magnet holder 135 and the plate-like first yoke 137. The buffer materials are not limited to a rubber material or a resin material, but a metal material such as copper alloy, SUS, aluminum and the like may be employed.
As to the cylindrical fixed iron core 138, as shown in
As shown in
According to the present embodiment, applying spot facing working to an inside of the movable iron core 142 for weight saving reduces operating sound without decreasing the attraction force.
Moreover, there is an advantage that since the weight of the movable iron core 142 is saved, even if an impact load is applied from outside, an inertia force of the movable iron core 142 is small, which hardly causes malfunction.
As to the bottomed cylindrical body 141 containing the movable iron core 142, an opening edge portion thereof is airtightly bonded to a lower surface edge portion of the caulking hole 137b provided in the plate-like first yoke 137. After internal air is suctioned from the vent pipe 134, gas is charged and sealing is performed, by which the sealed space 143 is formed.
As shown in
As illustrated in
A disk-like receiver 146 is put on the movable shaft 145, and subsequently, a small contact spring 147a, a large contact spring 147b and the movable contact piece 148 are put on the movable shaft 145. Furthermore, a retaining ring 149 is fixed to an upper end portion of the movable shaft 145 to thereby retain the movable contact piece 148 and the like.
As illustrated in
Accordingly, a view when a horizontal cross section of the contact switching device according to the present embodiment to which the position restricting plates 162 are assembled is seen from underneath is as shown in
The lid body 161 is not limited to the foregoing shape, but for example, as illustrated in
As shown in
In the present embodiment, as shown in
Since the coil terminals 153 and 154 each have a mirror-symmetrical shape as illustrated in
As shown in
Moreover, in the coil terminal 153, a projection for guide 153c is formed in the press-fitting portion 153h by a protrusion process, and a locking claw 153d is cut and raised.
Furthermore, in the coil entwining portion 153a, a cutter surface 15g utilizing a warp generated at the time of press working is formed at a free end portion thereof.
In the lead wire connecting portion 153b, a hole for inserting the lead wire 153e and a cut-out portion for entwining 153f are provided adjacently to each other at the free end portion.
In assembling the electromagnet portion 150, the projections for guide 153c and 154c of the coil terminals 153 and 154 are engaged with the guide grooves 152d of the spool 152 illustrated in
As shown in
According to the present embodiment, since in the coil terminal 153, the coil entwining portion 153a and the lead wire connecting portion 153b are provided separately, the coil 151 does not disturb the connection work of the lead wire, which increases workability.
Moreover, the use of the through-hole 153e and the cut-out portion 153f provided in the lead wire connecting portion 153b makes the connection easier, and makes coming-off of the lead wire more difficult.
Furthermore, when the coil entwining portion 153a and the lead wire connecting portion 153b are bent and raised at a right angle, both stand at adjacent corner portions of the flange portion 152a, respectively. Thus, there is an advantage that an insulation distance from the wound coil 151 to the lead wire becomes longer, so that the electromagnet portion 150 high in insulation properties can be obtained.
Obviously, the coil terminal 154 having the mirror-symmetrical shape to the coil terminal 153 has an advantage similar to that of the coil terminal 153.
While in the foregoing embodiment, a case where the coil 151 is wound around the spool 152 one time has been described, when the coil 151 is wound doubly, the three coil terminals may be arranged at the three corner portions of the flange portion 152a of the spool 152 as needed.
Next, operation of the sealed electromagnetic relay constituted as described above will be described.
First, as shown in
Subsequently, when the voltage is applied to the coil 151 to excite the same, as illustrated in
In the present embodiment, there is an advantage that since the small contact spring 147a and the large contact spring 147b are used in combination, spring loads can be easily in line with the attraction force of the electromagnet portion 150, which makes adjustment of the spring forces easy.
When the application of the voltage to the coil 151 is stopped to release the excitation, the movable iron core 142 departs from the fixed iron core 138, based on the spring forces of the small contact spring 147a, the large contact spring 147b and the return spring 139. This allows the movable shaft 145 to slide and move downward, so that the movable contacts 148a depart from the fixed contacts 133a, and then, the annular flange portion 145a of the movable shaft 145 is engaged with the annular cradle 135c of the magnet holder 135, thereby returning to an original state (
According to the present embodiment, an impact force of the movable shaft 145 is absorbed and alleviated by the buffer materials 163 through the magnet holder 135. Particularly, even when the movable shaft 145 returns to the original state, the movable iron core 142 does not abut on the bottom surface of the bottomed cylindrical body 141. Therefore, the present embodiment has an advantage that hitting sound of the movable shaft 45 is absorbed and alleviated by the magnet holder 135, the buffer materials 163, the fixed iron core 138, the electromagnet portion 150 and the like, thereby bringing about the sealed electromagnetic relay having small switching sound.
Moreover, according to the position restricting plates 162 of the present embodiment, as illustrated in
As in an conventional example, if the attraction force is addressed by one contact spring while assuring predetermined contact follow, it is hard to obtain a desired contact force as shown in
In contrast, according to the present embodiment, as illustrated in
Particularly, according to the present embodiment, the small contact spring 147a is arranged inside the large contact spring 147b. Therefore, at the operating time, the large contact spring 147b having a large length dimension and a small spring contact is first pressed (between P1 and P2 in the contact follow in
Since as the large contact spring 147b and the small contact spring 147a, coil springs are used, they do not spread radially, and a radial dimension can be made small.
Furthermore, there is an advantage that since the small contact spring 147a is put on the movable shaft 145, backlash hardly occurs, so that the electromagnetic relay without fluctuations in operation characteristics can be obtained.
The arrangement may be such that the length dimension of the small contact spring 147a is larger than that of the large contact spring 147b, the spring constant is smaller than that of the large contact spring 147b, so that the small contact spring 147a is first pressed. Moreover, the constitution may be such that the small contact spring 147a and the large contact spring 147b are joined at one-end portions to continue to each other. In these cases, the desired contact force can be obtained.
As illustrated in
According to the present embodiment, as shown in
Since other constitutions are similar to those of the foregoing embodiments, the same portions are given the same numbers, and descriptions thereof are omitted.
In a fourth embodiment, as shown in
According to the present embodiment, there is an advantage that the creepage distance from an outer circumferential edge portion of the movable contact piece 148 to the through-hole 135f of the magnet holder 135 becomes still longer, which makes it hard for dust and the like to enter the through-hole 135f, thereby increasing durability.
While in the foregoing embodiment, the case where the annular partition wall 135g is provided in the bottom-surface center of the magnet holder 135 has been described, the invention is not limited thereto. For example, as in a fifth embodiment illustrated in
Moreover, as in a sixth embodiment illustrated in
Furthermore, as in a seventh embodiment illustrated in
In the contact switching device of the second embodiment, using a case where only the 8-shaped buffer materials 163 made of CR rubber were incorporated as a sample of Example 1, and a case where the buffer materials 163 were not incorporated as a sample of Comparative Example 1, return sound of both was measured.
As a result of measurement, in the example and the comparative examples, a decrease by 5.6 dB could be confirmed in the return sound.
In the contact switching device of the second embodiment, using a case where only the sheet-like buffer materials were incorporated as a sample of Example 2, and a case where the sheet-like buffer materials were not incorporated as a sample of Comparative Example 2, the return sound of both was measured.
As a result of measurement, as compared with the return sound of Comparative Example 2, a decrease in the return sound by 11.6 dB could be confirmed in the sheet-like buffer materials made of copper having a thickness of 0.3 mm according to Example 2, a decrease in the return sound by 10.6 dB could be confirmed in the sheet-like buffer materials made of SUS having a thickness of 0.3 mm, and a decrease in the return sound by 8.6 dB could be confirmed in the sheet-like buffer materials made of aluminum having a thickness of 0.3 mm, so that silencing was found to be enabled.
In the contact switching device of the second embodiment, using a case where the substantially 8-shaped buffer materials made of CR rubber and the sheet-like buffer materials were combined as a sample of Example 3, and a case where none of the buffer materials was assembled as a sample of Comparative Example 3, the return sound of both was measured.
As a result of measurement, as compared with the return sound of Comparative Example, a decrease in the return sound by 15.9 dB could be confirmed in the combination of the 8-shaped buffer materials and the sheet-like buffer materials made of copper having a thickness of 0.3 mm according to Example 3, a decrease in the return sound by 18 dB could be confirmed in the 8-shaped buffer materials and the sheet-like buffer materials made of SUS having a thickness of 0.3 mm, and a decrease in the return sound by 20.1 dB could be confirmed in the 8-shaped buffer materials and the sheet-like buffer materials made of aluminum having a thickness of 0.3 mm, so that further silencing was found to be enabled.
As shown in
That is, as shown in
As a result, as shown in
Variation in the attraction force when the outer circumferential portion 142a of the movable iron core 142 having an outer diameter φ1 shown in
Moreover, for a movable iron core having an outer diameter φ1′ (=φ1×1.75) which was larger than that of the foregoing movable iron core, the attraction force characteristics were measured similarly. As shown in
From measurement results described above, it was found that if the ratio between the outer diameter and the inner diameter was 77% or less, preferably 74% or less, the attraction force characteristics to the movable iron core were not affected.
Moreover, the attraction force characteristics when the attracting and sticking portion 142b of the movable iron core 142 having the large outer diameter φ1′ (=φ1×1.75) was made thinner were measured.
As shown in
From the above-described measurement result, it was found that the lighter the movable iron core was, the more the operating sound could be reduced. Particularly, it was found that silencing could be performed while avoiding reducing the attraction force by making smaller a thickness dimension of the attracting and sticking portion by the spot facing working for the weight saving more effectively than by making thinner the thickness of the outer circumferential portion of the movable iron core.
The inner circumferential portion 142c of the movable iron core 142 is to surely support the lower end portion of the movable shaft 145, but is not necessarily required and only needs to have a minimum necessary size.
Obviously, the contact switching device according to the present invention is not limited to the foregoing electromagnetic relay but the present invention may be applied to another contact switching device.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010-058009 | Mar 2010 | JP | national |
| 2010-058010 | Mar 2010 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2011/055937 | 3/14/2011 | WO | 00 | 11/15/2012 |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| WO2011/115057 | 9/22/2011 | WO | A |
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| Omron Corporation, Chinese Office Action dated Aug. 13, 2014, CN Appln. No. 201180014059.0 (with translation), 15 pages. |
| Omron Corporation, Extended European Search Report dated Jul. 11, 2014, EP Appln. No. 11756238.9, 7 pages. |
| Omron Corporation, Chinese Office Action dated Aug. 1, 2014, CN Appln. No. 201180014178.6 (with translation), 9 pages. |
| Omron Corporation, Extended European Search Report dated Jul. 9, 2014, EP Appln. No. 11756237.1, 6 pages. |
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20130106542 A1 | May 2013 | US |
